Category: Blog

Contrary to popular belief the survival of the fittest does not always mean the survival of the
nicest. In the world of coffee this can be clearly seen.

There are two main species of coffee grown – arabica coffee and robusta coffee. Arabica coffee
is more highly regarded than robusta coffee and about three quarters of coffee cultivated
worldwide is therefore arabica coffee.

Arabica coffee is considered superior thanks to its preferred flavours and aroma. Robusta coffee
contains about 40-50% more caffeine and is used for espresso blends due to its full-bodied
taste and better foam head (crema).

Even though the world prefers arabica coffee it’s much harder to grow this variety. This is
thanks to the plant preferring higher altitudes and a cooler climate. Furthermore, arabica plants
are more likely to be attacked by the lethal coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix), which robusta is
much more resistant to.

Coffee has many other enemies as well – over 900 species have been identified as pests of
coffee crops worldwide. In general, arabic coffee plants are more sensitive and more likely to
suffer an attack – it appears neither human, nor any other form of life can resist this plant! Much
of what we consider to be pests are really only other forms of life trying to get at what we want
to preserve for ourselves.

Spraying coffee plants with insecticides has not proven effective, as the plant is more likely to
die than the pest and instead integrated pest management has developed. Maybe we should
be thankful for this as it will keep our coffee fairly “clean.” It also prevents overall pollution as
pesticides don’t only affect the plant they were targeted at.

So now you know a little bit more about one of our favourite plants of all time!

It’s that time of the year. You know that time of the year. And no, we are not talking about red
socks for the fireplace, or Christmas cheer here, we are talking about the time of gingerbread
lattes. Sneakily you have been looking forward to them, haven’t you? And maybe, just maybe
you wanted to try making them yourself this year instead of spending vast amounts of money
at your local cafe. If you have just gotten yourself a new coffee, or espresso machine maybe
you are longing to try some new recipes, or if you are giving one away for Christmas to a loved
one it can be a nice hint to include some handwritten cards with recipes. So that they remember
your favourites and make them for you throughout the year…

We found this excellent, all natural gingerbread latte recipe at Stephanie O’Dea’s blog and
made some slight alterations.

–4 cups milk (2% or lower is best to not worry about curdling, or you could use rice, soy, or
almond milk for a vegan option. Rice milk is often quite thin, so the coffee taste comes through
more. Try a thicker almond milk for best result.)
–1/2 cup white sugar (or try honey, maple syrup, or stevia for a healthier version)
–2 tsp ground ginger
–2 tsp vanilla extract (or a little bit of real vanilla seeds for the luxurious!)
–1 tsp ground cinnamon
–1/4 tsp cloves
–1/4 tsp nutmeg
— 1/4 tsp cardamom
–cinnamon stick and whipped cream for garnish (optional).
–1/2 cup strong black coffee, or a freshly-brewed shot of espresso (we would say this can be
varied according to taste – many cafes serve 1 per small latte)

Pour the milk into your pot together with the spices and whisk it gently. Keep whisking whilst
heating it if you want a frothy result, otherwise just heat it whilst gently stirring (milk burns easily,
so beware!). Allow it to simmer for some time so that the spices really flavour the milk properly.
Pour over hot coffee, or espresso and serve in cups. Garnish with whipped cream, a sprinkle of
nutmeg, and a cinnamon stick. Excellent to offer to guests, or just surprise someone in bed with!
For children you can always leave out the coffee and just serve the milk (and cream).

We all know that coffee awakens the nation, but what else is there to know about coffee that
you may not have heard of?

In 2010 a team from a BBC science program drove from Manchester to London in a converted
1988 Volkswagen Scrirocco, using roasted coffee granules as fuel. It took 10 hours and they
used about 70kg of coffee. The car got nicknamed The Car-puccino. We wonder why?!

During the Age of Sail the men working for the Royal Navy lacked coffee aboard their ships and
resorted to dissolving burnt bread in water. Given we can only imagine what this would taste
like we can’t condemn it as such…but let’s just say we are very happy there is no lack of coffee
currently!

We all know that coffee is popular, but can you guess just how popular? How many cups a
year? Well we have the answer for you: approximately 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed
each year. This makes coffee the world’s most popular drink. It appears Scandinavia is in
the lead with the most cups of coffee per person, per year. And apparently the world record
for coffee intake is 82 cups in 7 hours. We do not recommend you try this – after all, coffee is
supposed to be a nice treat!

If you want to know exactly how dependent the world is on coffee, you can ponder the fact
that during WWII coffee bombs (bags of coffee) were dropped in Germany to turn the people
AGAINST the government as there was a general lack of coffee during the war. We wonder who
came up with this? The Brits, the French, or the Americans? And maybe more interestingly, did
it succeed? Did people turn against the government in favour of…coffee?! Maybe it’s lucky that
today here in Britain there’s an ample supply of coffee beans, coffee grinders, French presses
and coffee/espresso machines. Long live the Queen. Phew.